SKULLY Ceases Operations, Lawsuit Against Founders

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In 2014, San Francisco tech startup Skully raised hype and money to build a Tony Stark-style digitally augmented motorcycle helmet. Almost $2.5 million later, the company’s shutting down. Now a lawsuit from within the company gives us some hints as to why: founders allegedly blew the R&D money on lap dances and fast cars.

Isabelle Faithhauer, a former executive assistant to Skully CEO Marcus Weller and his co-founder/brother Mitch Weller, claims the brothers “used the corporate entities of Skully in such a fraudulent manner as to render the corporate entity a sham.”

(Skully’s PR representatives have not yet responded to requests for comment.)

In the suit, Faithhauer claims the Wellers “routinely demanded [she] engage in fraudulent bookkeeping practices designed to defraud investors in Skully into believing that Skully funds were being used for business purposes, when in fact, the funds were being used to pay the personal expenses of the Wellers.”

Highlights of these alleged “personal expenses” include:

The brothers’ personal apartment rent in San Francisco’s Marina district
$80,000 in cash paid to an unnamed co-founder, hidden as expenses for a trip to China
A weekend Lamborghini rental.
A Dodge Viper.
A second Dodge Viper, after the first one was in an accident.
Four motorcycles
$2,000 on limos in Florida
$2,000 at a strip club called “De Ja Vu”
$2,345 on paintings
A first-class last-minute flight to Hawaii
And a whole list of other grievances related to the Wellers’ alleged refusal to pay Faithhauer’s overtime.

In hindsight, Skully appeared to be kind of shady for some time. The company continuously pushed back its promised release date while sucking down $2,446,824 from Indie GoGo backers—that’s 979 percent of the $250,000 “goal” they “needed” to get running.

Shrug, I always loved the idea of the helmet... but I'm not ever going to pay 2000 dollars for a bad tech helmet that if I drop it once I'm out 2000 bucks. Bottom line is helmets are only used for a short term one crash kind of thing. If they ever invent this same tech but tiny and universal attachment to MY helmet then I"M IN. until then. Whats the point?

From what I'm reading the brothers had their own places so multiple rents and not leased through the company and not used for employees. It's one thing to run a personal business but it's another to take money from startup investors and blow it all.

From Webster:
Full Definition of greed
: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed.

So, how much "is needed" to have a really really good time? Where you get the money is not greed (see definition: POS swindler). If you party like it's 1999 and you have anything left over, then obviously you didn't have more than "is needed". Hence: Not greed.

Question: If YOU would have been invited at the last minute to join them in the Hawaii activities and they coughed up enough money for a lap dance or two for you - would you consider yourself as greedy....... or one guad lucky new friend of those filthy rich brothers?